Response to Vince Cable HE Speech
On 15 July Vince Cable –Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills – gave a speech setting out the options for UK Higher Education.
Read the full speech here
We were pleased to hear his affirmation that arts subjects are important and that they feed into hugely successful industries. At the Crafts Council, we know this to be true. The craft industry alone contributes £3billion Gross Value Added to the UK economy and those in the sector make up 13% of the creative industries. In addition, our recent research Making Value proved that graduates from craft subjects contribute to a huge range of industries including architecture and interior design, retail and advertising, film and television, performing and visual arts, cultural heritage and fashion; as well as in manufacturing, leisure, events and tourism.
But perhaps even more interesting in light of the renewed focus on STEM subjects is that craft has a presence in scientific arena as well; Nobel Textiles is a collaboration between Central Saint Martins and the Medical Research Council that explores the overlap between creative fields and science; and printmaker Elaine Shemilt’s work for crop geneticists led to the discovery of previously unknown DNA patterns. Professor Mike Press, University of Dundee elaborates on more examples in his blog where craft and design inform and engage with science and technology.
Cable talks about raising the profile of sophisticated and valuable skills, vocational education in further education and banishing a rigid dividing line between further and higher education.
He says ”I would like to see universities forging closer links with schools in deprived areas and academies to enlighten young people from disadvantaged backgrounds of the opportunities available to them and the means of seizing them. We in government must respect universities’ independence and they, in turn must acknowledge the barriers to access”
The Crafts Council’s newest educational initiate Firing Up uses a cluster model to connect one Higher Education Institute with five secondary schools to upgrade secondary school children’s experience of and access to learning ceramic skills. The scheme has been supported by a combined grant of almost £200,000 from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and is the first of its kind. Ambitious in its scale it is aiming to reach 11,000 children in 55 secondary schools over three years.
Research into the creative industries is vital in understanding how creative practice can further creativity and innovation in numerous UK industries.
